The government has reiterated that it is unable to immediately ban the use of plastics in the country despite persistent calls from environmentalists and other interest groups.

The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Frimpong Boateng, who made the assertion said the government is rather focusing on getting polluted water bodies back to their normal state.

He added that the country currently does not have a policy it could rely on to ban plastics which contributes to majority of filth in the country.

“I’m told to ban plastics because plastics have been banned in Rwanda, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire and so on. Yes, it is a mess, but without a policy it will be difficult. We are at the finishing stage of the draft of our plastic policy, and it is going through consultations and pretty soon we will have a plastic policy that we can all rely on,” he said.

Those who argue for the ban on plastics cite the heavy pollution of the environment by such products, and the need to address the issue.

But speaking at the Ministry’s meet-the-press on Tuesday, the sector minister said government is engaging various stakeholders in consultations over the draft policy document to effectively address the matter.

In February 2018, the Ministry in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, organised the first stakeholder forum to discuss the draft of the national plastic waste management policy.

The National Plastics Management Policy combines a broad spectrum of measures. It calls for environmental education and creation of awareness, turning plastic waste into a resource for value addition, and using sustainable chemistries as a tool for spearheading innovation and economic development.